In the rhythm of tapping
by DWGolondor
Summary: Tapping and the Morse code have always been a huge part of Leo Valdez life. This is a story of tapping, more tapping and love. Caleo. Late Christmas gift for PhoenixofBeautyandPower (aka Nixie/Twinsy).


**Woooo, my first attempt on a Caleo one-shot (besides my terrible letter and my even worse start for a story XD). I tried to did my best here, so Nixie, enjoy it ;)**

"Leo, what are you doing there?"

Leo turned around as he stared at his mama's face who was examining him, amused by his behavior. Leo then stared at the clock in his hand. It was a gift from his abuelo Sammy to his mama. She told him that it was broken for years now and Leo could see that his mom often was sad about it, so Leo decided to repair it, just to make her happy. He didn't know why but he always had a great talent for creating and repairing things. It was like he was born with a gift.

"Here mama, I repaired this for you." He said giving her one of his typical grins. His mama stared at him in shock. At first Leo thought she might be angry, but then she smiled and hugged him.

"Oh Leo, you are such a sweet boy. I can't believe you did this for me." She said kissing his cheek. Leo smiled at this. He loved to make his mama happy. She was the only one who really loved and cared about him and he would always try to make her happy no matter what.

"I would do anything for you mama." He said with a small voice. His mama grinned at his words and gave him another hug.

"You are something really special Leo. Don't you ever forget that." She whispered into his ears as she stroked his hair.

Leo grinned at her compliment. That was what Leo always love about his mama. She always let him explore and do different kind of things without stopping him. Leo knew that other mothers would have freaked out if they saw their child playing with a hammer or any other tool, but not his. She always accepted him just like he was.

His mama then broke up the hug and grinned at him. "Now as a special child, you of course need to learn a special language, right?"

Leo blinked at this. He was not getting what she was saying. "A special language?" he asked innocently with his small voice.

His mama laughed at this and a sound of music echoed through his ears. "Yes Leo, a special language." She said softly. "Your abuelo has taught me it long time ago and now I want you to learn it. This language can be very helpful."

Leo grinned at this. "What is the name of this language?" he cried happily.

At this his mother only smiled. "Morse Code."

Her words made Leo confused since he never heard of such language before. "Morse Code?"

Her mother chuckled again which made Leo even more confused. "How about I show it to you? Tap after me." She said when she suddenly started to tap on the ground. Leo eyed her movement very closely and then started to tap with her. At first, he failed to tap in the right rhythm, but then after a while he was in a flow tapping after his mother as they did it now simultaneously. Nothing could be heard in the room, only the quiet tapping of mother and son perfectly combined as the fingers were lifted up and down.

"This is fun!" Leo said cheerfully as he did it now more quickly.

His mama smiled at him. "I am glad that you like it. You see this little tapping we just did had a little message behind it."

Leo looked at her curiously. Now he really wanted to know this secret language. "What is it?" he asked with his cute voice.

His mama gave him a wide smile, a smile that cheered Leo up no matter how down he was. "It means: I love you."

Leo stared at her as he tapped those words again. _I love you. I love you._ Leo grinned. He really loved the sound of the rhythm as echoed through his ears. _I love you._ He grinned and hugged his mama.

"I love you mama."

Leo looked at her to see her beaming at him with pride and love. "Oh, I love you too my little engineer." She said kissing his forehead and hugging him again. Leo smiled. As long as he lived, he would never forget those taps. He swore that to himself.

-LINE BREAK-

"You little bastard!"

"Please, don't hurt me!" Leo cried as he hid behind the desk. In front of him was his abusive foster father who just caught him taking some food from the fridge. He had been starving for days now since the only thing he got from his foster father was from time to time some leftovers.

Leo hated his life. Ever since his mother had died in that dreadful night, his life had been a living hell. His aunt abandoned him and every foster home he ever lived in was either terrible or he messed it up. This time he ended up being with an alcoholic man who only wanted the money for taking care of him. At first, he acted nice, but the minute Leo walked into his new house he dropped his mask, showing him the real monster behind the man. He never would let him out, have some fun or eat much. He would let him do all the dirty work in the household and abuse him if he didn't abide by the rules.

He now was fearing for his life as the man grabbed him and dragged him across the room, through the door and was leading him into his worst nightmare: the punishment room. It was nothing more than a storeroom which was just big enough to stand in there. This was where he was always put in when he didn't behave the way he should have.

"No, please don't." he said with tears in his eyes now but his foster father didn't care about his words and threw him in forcefully as he locked up the door. Leo groaned as his back hit the wall. He rubbed his back carefully and stared at the darkness in front of him. Dark and empty, just like his life. His body began to shake as he sat down and began to hug himself. For a while he was claustrophobic now, a symptom that followed due to the many times he had been put in this small room.

"Just 3 more hours. Just 3 more hours." He whispered as he bobbed up and down on the cold floor. There was no heater in this room which was especially bad in winter as the temperature could drop down to 5 degree **(I had to google that XD For people outside the US: It's -15 degree celcius :p)**.

"Just three more hours." He whispered again as his hands began to shake. He felt how his mind was losing control over his body as it was shaking in the darkness of the room. Despite that he managed to get some control over his hands and started tapping. He tapped: over and over again, like there was no ending to it. He tapped the same sentences continuously: _I love you mom. I miss you. I love you mom. I miss you._

His body was still shaken as hot tears ran down his cheek but the tapping was calming him down a bit. The tapping was one of the only things that Leo still had from his mother. He remembered the day when he learned Morse code, back when he really was happy. To many children, it probably would have only been a game, but to Leo this was a connection to his mom. Something he has learned from her, it was their language. And it was this language that made Leo still felt like his mom was still here even if it was only for short moments.

 _I love you mom. I miss you. I love you mom. I miss you._ He tapped again and again as those words were his only hope in the wide spread darkness of his life.

 _I love you mom. I miss you. I love you mom. I miss you._ He tapped again but now his hopes were distinguishing. He knew that this was hopeless. He would never get out of here again, he would never find love or seek for a job or have children. He would forever be trapped in this house with this madman.

 _I love you mom. I miss you. I love you mom. I miss you._ He tapped again as his hands began to shake more strongly again. Finally, he couldn't lift up his fingers anymore as he lost control over his movement. He wrapped his arms around his legs again as he began to shake furiously and the light that had been in his eyes slowly distinguished.

 _I lo-lo_ he tried again before his hand finally dropped and he began to sob uncontrollably.

-LINE BREAK-

"Leo! Where the hell are you?" Piper cried as she was wandering around the camp searching for her best friend. She needed to find him because they needed to discuss over the coming trip to the Roman camp and also over Jason as she felt a bit insecure now and needed some advice from her best friend.

"Where is this annoying son of Hephaestus now?" she muttered as she headed towards Bunker 9. Sunlight was dropping down on the flourishing meadow of the camp as birds began to sing as the sun rose. The clear blue color of the lake and sky complimented the scenery perfectly and was in any other case a wonderful view on the nature. But Piper had no time observing the landscape right now as she opened the door to the bunker.

"Leo, are you in here?" she asked as she slowly stepping into the building. Dozens of tools and machines were placed around the bunker as she carefully walked along the floor and tried to avoid to get oil or dirt on any on her clothes. A great chaos was covering the whole room as shelves, the floor itself and other furniture almost disappeared in this mess of machines and tools. A smell of mechanical oil came up in her nose as she scrunched it. Yep, this was definitely a place Leo would love to stay in.

She tiptoed over the floor as there was no visible path anymore that she could go along. As she finally could see some brighter light at the end of the floor she suddenly saw Leo who sitting on a revolving chair. She just wanted to call his name when she suddenly noticed his hands tapping on the desk. It was the same rhythm again and again, as if he was trying to put out a message for someone. She continued to observe him from behind as he continued to tap. He didn't even work on his project anymore as he looked way too tired, he only tapped. Piper frowned at this. She wondered when the last time it was Leo actually had decent sleep. She would talk to him about that later.

"Leo?" Piper asked him as he flinched at her voice. He turned around slowly and stared at her eyes in surprise. Heavy eye circles decorated his face as he gave her a small smile. "Piper! I didn't see you here! So came to see your favorite boy?" he asked grinning.

Piper frowned at this. She could see that something was wrong with him. "When was the last time you slept?" she asked crossing her arms.

Leo blinked. "Enough." He muttered but Piper could straight see it was a lie as he didn't even look in her eyes.

"Leo." She said warningly raising her voice and letting a little charmspeak flow.

"Oh fine! I haven't slept in 3 days okay?!" he cried as he threw his hands up. "You happy now?" he cried glaring at her.

Piper looked at him in horror. How…how could he even stay awake for so long without collapsing? "Leo! What were you thinking?! You could have gone seriously ill! Come on, you will sleep now." She commanded as she grabbed his arm, but he shrugged her off.

"No! I need to continue on this! We only have a few days left and I need to finish the ship!" Leo cried in frustration and Piper could see that he was on the verge of a breakdown. It broke her heart to see him in such state.

"Leo…" she said softly as she tried to reach him again but Leo pulled away.

"Please, let me be alone." He whispered softly.

Piper now had a few tears in her eyes. She didn't care what he said now, she immediately went forward and hugged her. "Please. You can't work on it if you are a walking zombie." She said softly. "And the ship isn't more important than your health. Please…go to sleep. I don't want to see my best friend in this state."

Piper could feel how Leo was trying to break out from her hug but then relax after a while. "I…Yeah, you are right." She could hear him speak softly. "I could need some sleep."

Piper smiled. "Good boy." She teased him as she ruffled his hair. As she looked down at his hand she noticed tapping again. Piper knew that Leo could speak Morse code. Maybe that was all that tapping.

"Leo, your hand…" she said softly staring at it. Leo looked down at it and for a blink of a second Piper swore there was fear in his eyes. Then he smiled.

"Oh, that's fine. It's just some rhythm my mom taught me while I was young. It helps me to calm down." He said giving her a tired smile.

Piper smiled sadly at him. She knew how bad his mother's death had affected him. It pained her to see him like this. Piper just wanted to ask if that tapping maybe was Morse code when she saw his tiredness. No, right now all Leo needed was sleep and not some stupid questions from her.

She grabbed him by his arm. "Come on, repair boy. Let's get you some sleep." She said as she dragged him out of the bunker. What she didn't know was that Leo in fact was speaking in Morse code. _I love you mom. I miss you. I love you mom. I miss you._ He tapped over and over again.

-LINE BREAK-

Calypso was in her cave staring at the wall feeling numb. It had been a week now since Leo arrived and she did her best to avoid him. She didn't need to reminded again that someone crashed on her island only to leave her again. Besides he was not even impressive…well maybe a bit cute. She shook that thought out of her head. No, she couldn't afford falling for him. She couldn't go through this whole heartbreak again, she didn't know if she could endure another heart break. She remembered all the other heroes that were on her island: Odysseus, Drake and Percy…And those were only the three most memorable ones. She thought she had finally stopped being so naïve and stupid and stopped falling for all those heroes over and over again, but it was useless. All her efforts to protect herself ended in a disaster. Till Percy she tried to be nice without getting to close to them which definitely failed. After Percy, she had lost it. She was done with being the maiden in help who only aided the heroes but then was left alone again on the island. The last straw was then Leo crashing on her island. He was not like any other heroes she met. The others were kind, brave, good-looking and gracious. He was an annoying, elf-like and cheeky child which irritated her. It was then when she was definitely done with the gods, with the fates, with the heroes, with just everything. All she wanted was to be alone now, which is why she immediately hid herself in the cave and only came out to give him some food.

Tears came out of Calypso's eyes as she thought about all her heartbreaks but she shook her head. No, she wouldn't be a crybaby again. She wouldn't let herself be degraded as a useless girl who could only cry over her heartbreaks. No, she was done with it. She wouldn't hide herself in this stupid cave anymore, she would be facing her fear now and she would defeat it.

She turned around and looked into her mirror. Despite her looking exactly the same as she did millenniums ago she saw a change in her face. She now looked more mature, yet tortured and haunted. Her carefree self was gone and replaced by a heartbroken older version of her former self.

She sighed as she took a deep breath and went outside to Leo. He was lying on the sand with his stomach pointing on the ground. As she came closer she could see him tapping. She frowned as she realized that it was the same rhythm over and over again. As if he was sending a message. Normally he would be building some things, but now he seemed…calm and somehow sad. Calypso didn't even know he was capable of being so calm but to her it looked like he was in deep thought.

She decided to go over to him and find out what was going on. "Not building anything? Well at least you are not scaring the birds away again." She said as she sat next to him.

Leo flinched at her voice and stared at her. "Holy Hera girl! What did I told you about not sneaking on me like that?!"

Calypso rolled her eyes at this. For a hero, he was really easily scared. "Relax, I was only thinking you could need some company." She told him.

Calypso saw how Leo eyed her skeptically. "Oh really? I thought you wanted to avoid me?"

Calypso sighed. Of course, he would point that out. "Well, I can't hide forever, can I? If we are already on this island together, might as well do the best out of it." She said.

Leo didn't reply to that and Calypso now really was confused by his behavior. Normally he would snap back at her with some cheeky reply. But today he stayed silent which was unusual for him.

"You know it's funny. When I was a bit younger, I thought being a hero might be cool. That and being alone with a girl on a lonely island. But now sitting here on this cursed island and living the life of a demigod, I now just wished I was never born as a demigod. That I was born as a normal human being without any powers." He said softly and Calypso could see a longing after something in his eyes. She was surprised by his statement. She had had many heroes here on her island before. She had listened to their problems, but none of them never told her that he wished to be normal, that he wasn't a demigod.

"Well, sadly we can't change our fate. You are a demigod, as much as I am cursed to be on this island and fall for heroes over and over again only for them to leave me." She told him with a calm voice but she was doing her best not to cry over her words.

Leo snorted at this. "Well, fuck the fates." He muttered.

Calypso stared at him in shock. Did he just…? Didn't he know how dangerous that was?

"Leo! You can't say that! Don't you know how dangerous that is?" she told him angrily and with a hint of worry, not that she would admit that.

Leo crossed his arms at this. "So, what? The fates made my whole life a living hell. I don't care if they curse me now, it's not like I have anything to lose." He muttered.

Calypso now was gaping at him. Never in her life did she thought that this annoying demigod was in reality a depressed young man with suicide thoughts.

"Okay, what is wrong with you?" she hissed at him. She didn't want to sound so harsh, but she really didn't want to hear him saying this. "You are acting very different today like you usually do."

Leo avoided her eyes. "Why do you even care? You want me gone, don't you?"

Calypso stared at him at this for a moment. She blushed a bit as she felt a bit ashamed for her words. She didn't know it would influence him so negatively. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to be so mean to you." She said sighing. "I…I am just done with all the heartbreaks." She told him.

To her surprise, Leo neither scoffed or rolled his eyes at this but smiled at her sympathetically. "It's okay. I wouldn't want to see another girl too if it was me in your place."

Calypso smiled back at this a bit. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

Leo sighed at this. "If you want to know, it's my mother's death today. I know time goes differently here but I just counted the days here like the days outside the island." He said softly as he stared down on the ground. Just now Calypso realized the familiar feeling he had in his eyes. It was numbness, the feeling of emptiness in yourself as he thought about it. She had that feeling often if she thought about her former lovers.

"I am sorry Leo. I didn't know." She said softly shocked by his words. She knows how he felt, it was millenniums ago when she lost her mother. Despite her best efforts, she never really got over it.

Calypso saw how Leo shook his head at this. "Don't say you are sorry okay? Because you are not." He told her with a strained voice. "If somebody should be sorry, then it should be me."

Calypso's jaw almost dropped at his words. Why was he saying such things?

"Why?" she only managed to say as she stared at him in complete shock. The happy and annoying demigod she saw when he first landed on here was gone. Instead a moody and depressed demigod was sitting here with her now talking about his mother's death.

Leo didn't reply at this. Calypso saw how his body was shaking at this point and he was barely able to control himself. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay." She said softly. "I…I understand. I lost my mother too, you know." She told him.

At this he shrugged her off, stood up and began to shout leaving her in bewilderment. "No, you don't! Nobody can! You didn't kill her! You didn't start the fire that killed her! You don't have powers that can hurt people!" he cried as tears ran down his cheek.

Calypso was frozen at this point. She didn't what to say at this other to stay there in shock by his words.

"The…the worst thing about it is I never got to tell her how much I loved her." He said openly crying now. "She…she was the only one who ever understood me and now she is gone." He croaked before he couldn't stop his tears anymore.

Calypso who was still paralyzed didn't knew what to do. She never was good at comforting people and crying people made her nervous. She then did the only thing she knew that could calm down sobbing people: she hugged Leo…tightly. His body felt very warm and comfortable as hot tears dropped on her dress. Before she knew it, Leo was suddenly opening up to her about how his mother died. He told her about Gaia and how she tricked him. Anger rose in Calypso's body. How dare that stupid goddess kill his mother? He was only a child! Calypso tried his best to calm him down as she rubbed his back. It was horrible to see him like this. Now Calypso really felt bad at how she treated him when he first arrived here.

Soon after a while he finally had calmed down. He wiped some tears away before he sniffled a bit. Calypso put both her hands now on his shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes. "Leo, this is not your fault okay. Gaia used you. It was her who cause her death, not you. You were only a child back then." She told him seriously.

"But…" Leo protested at this, but Calypso cut him off.

"It's not your fault." She told him softly. At this Leo went silent again and stared on the ground. Calypso now knew that she needed to change the topic quickly.

"So…I saw you tapping with your fingers on the ground. Does this have any meaning?" she asked curiously.

Leo looked up and stared in her eyes. "Oh this? This is just Morse code that my mom taught me. It helps me to calm down." He said.

Calypso smiled at this. It really seemed like Leo wasn't so bad after all. He actually looked cute…she shook that thought off again. No, she wouldn't fall again for someone.

"Do you mind teaching me about it too?" she asked softly.

At first Leo seemed hesitant but then nodded. "Sure." He said smiling at her when he started to explain to her how the system worked. Calypso smiled when she listened to him. It was something different then to just listen to the hero's stories. Now she was learning with one something new, something different. Something that didn't remind her of her past. It took her a while to learn but after a while she quickly got it. Then she saw him tipping again. And again, and again. And finally, after minutes of watching she figured it out. _I love you mom. I miss you. I love you mom. I miss you._

"You miss you mom, don't you?" she asked softly. When Leo only nodded numbly she took his hand and squeezed it. It was that day when she learned that Leo wasn't the happy and cheery guy he pretended to be all the time. He was broken, but she would help him as much as she could. It was also the first time that she realized that he wasn't as bad as she thought. Maybe she liked him, but only a bit.

-LINE BREAK-

Calypso was in the kitchen making the dinner for the two of them. It has been years now since the two of them escaped her island and settled down at his mother's house that he bought back. They now really opened their garage. She still couldn't even believe after all those years that she found this amazing man who landed on her island. It sometimes still felt like a dream. She remembered the first time he told her that he loved her.

" _And we can see so much more. This world is pretty big, you know and we now have all the time." Leo told her grinning as he kissed her. They were sitting on a meadow in the central park having a picnic. It had been almost a year now since they escaped the island and 6 months since they arrived back Camp Half-Blood. All they wanted to do now was to take a break from the daily demi-god life._

" _Oh, someone is eager to explore the world." She teased him. "Hmm I will come with you but only if you carry my things and pay the food for me and…"_

" _Does the princess want something else?" Leo asked sarcastically as he interrupted her speech._

 _Calypso smirked at this. "Oh, you can tell me more how beautiful I am and a few kisses here and then couldn't hurt."_

 _Leo rolled his eyes and then laughed. "You, Calypso, are a needy girl."_

 _Calypso grinned at this. "Well, you got to use this if you already have such a wonderful boyfriend."_

 _Leo raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Now I am a wonderful boyfriend? Just a few minutes ago, you were calling me an idiot and a poor excuse of a repair boy."_

 _Calypso laughed. "Oh, I mean all of this." She said as he pouted. She smiled, she loved seeing him happy. Ever since that night on the beach Calypso was driven to make him feel comfortable and happy. She leaned forward to kiss him. "But you are my idiot and poor excuse for a repair boy." She teased him which made him blush._

 _She giggled a bit at his expression. Despite them being together for almost a year now he still was flushing at such things which made him looked really cute. Before she could reply with another sassy comment she noticed a tapping on her leg. Tap, another tap, this time two short ones. Leo was sending her a message! She observed his moves before she gasped and looked at Leo with surprise. He on the other hand was only smiling._

" _Leo…" she said softly as she was loss for words._

 _He smiled at her sadly. "Hey, it's okay. I understand if you don't feel the same way. I mean I am just…" he told her before she cut him off with a kiss. As their lips touched she passionately explored every corner of his soft and tasty lips before releasing him._

" _I love you too, you idiot and poor excuse for a repair boy." She said softly her heart beating ten times quicker now. She was spreading with joy. Finally, there was someone who actually cared about her, who loved her back, just the way she was and not only how she looked. Tears of happiness welled in her eyes._

 _Leo grinned at this. "Well, you could call me bad boy supreme." He teased her as she punched him on his arm slightly laughing._

Calypso's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a piano. Calypso had bought herself a piano a while ago because she loved playing this new kind of instrument. It sounded just beautifully. But never did she heard Leo playing it and by the sound of it he only could play the simplest tunes. What was he doing?

As she approached the living room where the piano was staying, she suddenly recognized something. Short, short, long, short, long, long, long, short. This…What was he trying to tell her? She tried to figure it out as she stepped closer. With every word that she deciphered she felt her heart beating faster. No…could he really? When she suddenly decoded the last word, she gasped. Suddenly a few tears welled in her eyes as she thought about that question. Was he…?

"I guess, you deciphered my little message." She heard Leo's voice as he walked to her giving her a gently smile. Calypso was still staring at Leo in awe and with watery eyes. Butterflies erupted from her stomach and flew around inside her making her feeling giddy.

Leo took a deep breath. "Callie, when I met you all those years ago, on Ogygia, I never would have thought we would be together now. You were really rude and irritating, reminding me of one of those mean girls from these typical high school movies that we have watched." He said as Calypso had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Typical Leo, never the poet.

"But over the time, I came to learn and love the person that you really are. You helped me through my darkest times. Despite all the mistakes I have done, despite all my flaws you stayed with me and loved me. You…" there he laughed nervously. "I don't know how to describe you. I can say you are beautiful, kind, smart, but that wouldn't even reach your level of awesomeness even though I am much more awesome." He said grinning at which Calypso had to laugh.

"With that being said. I love you Calypso. I came to love a woman who despite facing so many heartbreaks stayed strong and gave me a chance to be with her. I love you, more than you can imagine." He said softly which made Calypso's heart melt. He wasn't often too romantic, which she loved about him because she didn't need a cheesy boyfriend but at times like these she couldn't help but feel all love the love for him.

He then knelt down on one knee and held out a ring. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she put her hands over her mouth. "That's why I ask you. Will you marry me and make me the happiest demigod on earth?" he asked her.

Calypso first didn't react. It was all so much for her. Then she slowly moved her head and nodded. "Yes." She said softly. "Yes, I will marry you, you idiotic son of Hephaestus." She said pulling him into a deep kiss. At this point she bursting with joy. She really couldn't believe it. She…she was going to marry Leo! She would be Calypso Valdez and his wife! Calypso Valdez, Calypso Valdez, it had a nice tune in it, she thought smiling as she kissed him with much passion and love.

When they broke up Leo smiled at her softly and Calypso stared at those chocolate brown eyes that she had fallen in love with years ago. Oh, how she loved this man.

"You know, I first wanted to propose to you the old Greek way by throwing an apple at you, but then I thought it was a waste of food." He said grinning.

At this Calypso laughed and shoved him. "Stop ruining the moment, Valdez."

Leo smiled at this. "You will be a Valdez soon too, you know." She told her.

Calypso smiled. She never had a great life. Her father was terrible, her mother died too early and she was trapped on an island destined to be heartbroken. But now she finally found her happy ending. She gave him another kiss and tapped him on the chest. _I know._

 **Yaaaaasss, I finally finished it! It took me hours to do this and I really hope this hasn't become too cheesy XD Caleo is soooooo cute! EEEEEEEEKKKK! But it was sooooo worth it! So worth it! Anyway, I hope you guys liked the story, I tried my best with it. I hope I didn't made Calypso OOC :p And Nixie, here is your late Christmas gift! Yeah! Love it and give a review, will ya ;) To the others, please give a review so I know where I can improve :p I will see you soon then with the next story of my christmas present saga :p (Or update one of my stories that really need to be updated XD)**


End file.
